Jon Stewart, hosting The Daily Show for the first time since the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, described the incident as a moment where the country “dodged a catastrophe,” drawing parallels to the disorientation felt during the 9/11 attacks.
Addressing his audience, Stewart shared his unease during the unfolding events, revealing his social media monitoring to identify the perpetrator. “It’s this pattern I feel like we now have in the country,” Stewart said, referring to the anxious wait to learn the shooter’s affiliation. “You sit there going, ‘Please, no Democrats or liberals or progressives.'”
“And we’re all doing it,” he continued. “We’re all doing it because we have to know what our posture will be on the tragedy. Will it be an ‘I told you’ or perhaps a circumspect, ‘But let’s not rush to judgment, we shouldn’t generalize.’ And then it ends up being someone we can’t even figure out in the first place — [the shooter was a] bullied loner, white guy, registered Republican, donated to a blue PAC, argued conservative causes … I don’t know what’s going on with this guy. We don’t know yet who’s got dibs, who wins, and none of us knows what’s going to happen next — other than there will be another tragedy in this country, self inflicted, by us to us., and then we’ll have this feeling again.”
Continued Stewart: “I remember it on 9/11, this disorienting ‘holy shit, stop the world, I would like to get off’ feeling. And in that moment, there will be some incredible Americans who, in the midst of it, for some unknown reason, rush towards it and get us back to some sort of equilibrium. And we’ll count on those folks to hold us together again. And it does remind us that, by a hair’s breadth, we dodged catastrophe. But it was still a tragedy. Because one of those first responders [at Trump’s rally] lost his life. His name was Corey Comperatore. He was a retired fire chief and he had given his life in service to his community and he died literally shielding his family. He’s a reminder that in those moments of crisis, there are helpers and we can all make a choice to try and be one of those people. Or, you can be one of these guys.”
Recalling the aftermath of 9/11, Stewart described a similar sense of “holy s—, stop the world, I would like to get off” feeling, highlighting the role of responders like Corey Comperatore, a retired fire chief who died shielding his family during the incident at Trump’s rally. Stewart praised such individuals as crucial in restoring stability amidst crisis.
Stewart also criticized media insensitivity, playing a clip from a Forbes headline that speculated on Trump’s potential appeal to black voters post-shooting, labeling it unfortunate.
Originally slated to host The Daily Show from Milwaukee, Stewart’s plans were reshuffled by Comedy Central after the shooting, shifting the broadcast to New York and delaying it by a day. The show will continue with the News Team hosting on subsequent nights, with Thursday’s broadcast live following the RNC’s conclusion, expected to feature Trump’s acceptance speech.
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Stewart’s commentary underscored the nation’s reaction to the shooting as a pivotal moment demanding reflection on unity and resilience amid tragedy.
